Flames, Scales and a Touch of Affection
by xSoulfirexCrookshanksx
Summary: Dragons are attacking Hogwarts and while the professors are getting the students away from the castle, Harry disappears, and Hermione realises he's going to fight the dragons—alone. When she runs after him, who runs after her? Please R


**A/N So this is just one of the gazillion in-progress fics of mine, and I'm really hoping you like it. Actually, I had a dream about something similar and thought I'd put it to paper. Please tell me how you liked (or disliked) it. Enjoy!**

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Dark clouds gathering thickly on the horizon and the moist air announced the coming storm; gusts of biting cold wind blasted across the tall grass on Hogwarts' front grounds. As the first freezing drops of rain fell, a low, steady beating sound began to grow. After a moment, the ground started trembling from the heavy sound and suddenly, Hogwarts was engulfed in a huge torrent of white flames. Screaming ensued, just to be cut off abruptly as the fire took effect. Without warning, the front doors of the looming castle exploded outwards, and a stream of terrified students poured down the stone steps, still in their nightclothes.

"Harry! Where are you going?" A girl with bushy, unkempt hair broke away from the main group. She had her eyes on a boy with dark hair that was racing right back towards the castle, his wand drawn and a look of fury plastered on his face. As the girl bolted after him, another dark figure also followed.

It was at that moment the cause of all the chaos showed itself. Through the billowing black smoke and roaring flames, an enormous head layered with black and red scales rose into the sky, its beady glittering eyes glaring down at the gathering. Massive jet-black wings unfurled from the dragons' sides, casting the already dark ground into the deepest of shadows. Student and teacher alike froze in horror as it opened its maw, releasing a torrent of flame into the sky. Within moments, four other giant reptiles joined the first, also breathing white fire over the school.

The girl finally caught up to Harry, grabbing his shoulders and whirling him to face him. "Hermione, what are you—"

"Harry, you can't do this, it's too dangerous!" the girl, Hermione, begged. "I can't lose you, Harry."

"Hermione, I'll be fine," Harry promised, but it was an empty promise. With five dragons, there was no way anyone could come out alive, and Harry knew it, but he wouldn't let it show. "Let me go or we'll all die," he tried to reason.

"I'm coming with you then," she said tightly, having to yell over the roaring. When Harry tried to protest, she snapped, "If you try to stop me, I'll just follow you."

"Fine," Harry growled and turned back towards the dragons, who were tearing at the stone structure with their steely talons and razor sharp teeth. Hermione ran after him, surprised he had agreed so quickly. Retrieving her wand from her cloak, she pulled to a halt beside Harry, who had stopped beside a run-down shed. Turning around, Harry cast her a penitent look. "Sorry, but… Petrificus Totalus!"

With a gasp of shock, Hermione's arms and legs snapped to her sides as she froze… literally. Harry started pushing her towards the shed, where he promptly forced her to the ground and gazed down at her regretfully. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but I can't let you get hurt." With that, he turned and vanished out the door, locking it behind him.

Hermione just sat there, stunned, panicking and hurt. Stunned because her best friend had just locked her in a shed, helpless, panicking because here she was, helpless and unable to move if danger came that was, and hurt because he didn't trust her enough to help him fight. What did she do wrong? To deserve this from her best friend. As she sat there fuming, she failed to notice the time lapse or hear the pounding on the wooden door until someone called out urgently.

"Granger! Are you in there?"

Hermione froze, which wasn't easy considering she was already petrified. That sounded like Professor Snape! But what was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be calming the most likely terrified students as the teachers got them away from the danger? Then she snorted, mentally. He would only terrify them more. She quickly pushed her thoughts away and concentrated on figuring out how to reply. Oh, why did Harry have to petrify her?

Lost in thought, Hermione didn't notice the slim wand poke underneath the door until a flash of violet light flashed upwards and the padlock on the door exploded with a snap. At once the door was flung open and a dark shape swept in; though it was dark and she could hardly see, Hermione knew exactly who it was.

Snape spotted her immediately, his black eyes flicking swiftly across the room to land on her petrified, tied body. "Finite Incantatem," he snapped, and Hermione felt the spell binding her melt away.

"Thanks," she muttered awkwardly as she stood shakily. "Sir, did you see where Harry went? He's about to do something extremely stupid; I need to help him!"

"Potter doing something stupid?" the potions master snorted. "Tell me something I don't know. And there's no way your going after him; you'll only get yourself killed too," he added drily as he moved to block her from leaving the shed.

"But, sir, I—"

"No, you will not do anything unless I say!"

Hermione recoiled at his sharp words, surprised at their ferocity, but also surprised that there was a thin layer of… something… in his voice. Concern? Could the dark, isolated professor actually be concerned about something, much less her? It was unbelievable, Hermione thought.

While she had been thinking about that, she didn't notice Snape walk silently over to the door and cast a locking charm on the door, as well as many other, unfamiliar spells on the shed. It was then she noticed how small it was. At barely twelve feet squared, it was smaller than her bedroom back at home. Three walls, excluding the door wall, were lined with wooden planks she assumed were used as shelves, and multiple tools were stacked along their lengths. She turned slowly to face Snape, who had also turned away from the door; they stared at each other a moment, unaware of the battle raging outside.

"Why did you help me?" Hermione finally asked curtly. "I would have been fine on my own."

"Yeah, and if someone had gotten in, they could have easily killed you without you having anything to say about it," Snape retorted, his eyes flaring menace. "Then you couldn't have been any help to anyone."

"That's a lot to say, coming from you!" The instant the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Before she could even draw breath, Snape had her pinned to the wall, his wand at her throat. She glared up at him unflinchingly, her eyes just as fiery as his.

"You dare speak to me in that tone, you insufferable girl?" he growled through clenched teeth.

"Yes, I do!" The words were out before Hermione could stop herself. She closed her eyes and berated herself; at this rate, she wouldn't live to see another morning. As expected, the wand at her throat dug into her skin and she adverted her gaze so she wasn't looking into his furious eyes. She didn't care that she was openly defying her professor, and she still didn't say anything.

After a moment, she was released and her eyes flew open to see Snape disappearing out the door. Heaving a sigh of relief, she started after him, intending to help Harry no matter what the stubborn boy said; however, upon reaching the door, she found the wards were still up and vibrant. She glared at the door and reached for her wand, only to find it wasn't in her robes where it had been just a moment ago. Shocked, she peered through the keyhole. What she saw turned her stomach inside out.

She could clearly see the front of Hogwarts, but at that moment there were at least eight dragons perched on its turrets, spitting white flames at the ancient castle. Hogwarts was in flames. At that moment, a dark figure dashed into her sight, wand outstretched. Hermione assumed it was Snape, but when the figure ran straight towards a massive dragon that had its back to her, she banished the thought. Even Snape wouldn't be that careless. What if…

She didn't get to finish that thought, for it was then her line of sight was completely blocked by blackness as someone moved in front of the door. She hurriedly moved away from the door as it exploded inward, smoke quickly filling the small room and causing her to start coughing violently. A flash of light, the smoke cleared. A shape moved towards Hermione; she wasn't sure who. When he—or she—reached her, she realized Snape had returned; but why?

"Granger!" A hand grabbed her arm roughly and dragged her out of the shed. She was still coughing painfully as they started back towards where the rest of Hogwarts' students were gathered. Upon arriving, they saw that they had already moved to another, most likely safer, location, and were nowhere in sight.

"What is going on?" Hermione asked, panting from the run. "Where is everyone and what about Harry?"

"Silence, girl!" Snape was furiously scanning the area for some sign of the others, but they had seemingly left long ago. After a moment, he turned to face her, his flaming black eyes capturing hers and freezing her to the spot. "I take it you were successful in Apparation?" he sneered.

Hermione nodded and he continued. "Typical. Now, before I dock any house points, you need to Apparate. I don't care where, just get somewhere safe." He held her gaze a moment longer before turning and sweeping away. If he had had one confidently functioning thought at that moment, he would have realised Hermione wouldn't follow directions. Instead, he just walked away, leaving her standing there, speechless.

Hermione didn't know exactly what she was going to do, but at that moment, an idea started forming in her head, and she decided to follow Snape's orders: she Apparated.

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A/N Um, random, yes, but I love dragons so I thought it seemed fitting. XD Please, please, please review and let me know if I should continue or not!


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